Building The Love Shack

December First arrived and it was time to bring our Elf on the Shelf. Yes, Husband and I have our own Elf on the Shelf.

Our game with him is: I officially hide him first and then when Husband finds him, he moves him and that is the way it goes. We don’t announce when he is found. Once he is found it is the finders turn to hide him.

There are only a few rules of hiding Elfie, he has to be out of the reach of the furbabies to keep them off the naughty list. In other words, so they don’t decapitate Elfie.

Elfie got a new pair of pajamas this year, so when I found him I had to stop to change his clothes.  He stopped by to say Hi to Santa before he was placed in another hiding spot for Husband to find.

We never grew up with Elf on a Shelf, nor did our children. I never learned about him until about eight years ago.

Curiosity got the best of me and so, I looked up the history of Elf on the Shelf.

Elf on the Shelf is a shelf publisher’s dream story. He was created by a family, a mother, Carol Aebersold, and her two adult twin daughters Chanda Bell and Christa Pitts. They took their own family tradition of having an elf and turned him into a storybook and character.

The women self-published him and his story in 2005. For the next couple of years, they sold their kits at local trade shows and markets. They also sold their product online and appeared at bookstores to share the story of The Elf on the Shelf.

In 2007 actress Jennifer Garner was photographed carrying Elf in New York. The next month, the “Today Show” ran a segment on The Elf on the Shelf. With the television exposure, they were flooded with calls and orders including more bookstores and toy stores wanting to started selling Elf on the Shelve.

Within years after its official launch, The Elf on the Shelf is a global phenomenon with elves being adopted by millions all around the world.

The idea of a Magical Elf that flies to the North Pole at night to share the secrets he has learned with Santa then reappears in the morning hiding in a new place is fun and whimsical. Elf adds Christmas Magic to homes.

The tradition is that the children can never touch the elf, or it will break the magic. So in our house, the adult children can not touch him. If they see Elfie they can’t tell us where he is as it is us who must find and moves him.

In our house, we believe in Santa and his Magical Elf. You are never too old for the Magic’s of Christmas.